Menuing method and system

Details Menuing method and system Menuing method and system

2001-09-27

2004-11-16

Tsang, Fan (Department: 2645)

Telephonic communications

Telephone line or system combined with diverse electrical...

Having transmission of a digital message signal over a...

C379S088230, C705S035000, C705S038000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06819748

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to menuing methods and systems that include low call volume menus and high call volume menus and, more particularly, to menuing methods and systems that provide an additional menu for low call volume non-bankruptcy reaffirmation and related kinds of accounts among a plurality of high call volume menus.
BACKGROUND
Voice response unit (VRU) systems enable callers to access information using a conventional telephone or another communication device. The interaction between the callers and the VRU system includes various voice prompts output by the VRU system and responses thereto, for example, via the telephone keypad, by the caller. VRU systems are used by service providers, such as banks and credit card companies, to fully or partially automate telephone call answering or responding to queries. Typically a VRU system provides the capability to play voice prompts including recorded voice segments or speech synthesized from text and to receive responses thereto. The voice prompts are generally organized in the form of voice menus invoked by state tables. A state table can access and play a voice segment or synthesize speech from a given text. The prompts are usually part of a voice application that is designed to, for example, allow a caller to query information associated with their various accounts.
Further, VRU systems are used in a variety of applications today to resolve customer problems and questions in conjunction with customer service representatives. In a financial service industry, such as the credit card industry, VRU systems often provide callers general information via one or more automated messages about a credit card account. Usually, the user is also given the option to either bypass an automated message or after the automated message has concluded to interact with a customer service representative in order to receive more detailed information tailored to an account of the user. This is achieved through the use of menus that provide a list of options for selection by the caller. The VRU system menus are organized such that high volume calls are handled so as to minimize costs associated with customer service representatives and to increase customer satisfaction. Naturally, there is a continuing desire to improve VRU systems to improve cost performance and to enhance customer satisfaction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An aspect of the invention is to provide a menuing method including entering an identifier, and selecting a menu from a plurality of menus based upon the identifier. The plurality of menus includes at least one low call volume menu and at least one high call volume menu.
Another aspect of the invention is to provide a menu driven system including a menu selector that selects a menu from a plurality of menus based upon an identifier. The plurality of menus includes at least one low call volume menu and at least one high call volume menu.
Another aspect of the invention is to provide a menuing method for a voice response unit system including entering an identifier, and selecting a menu from a plurality of menus based upon the identifier. The plurality of menus includes at least one low call volume menu and at least one high call volume menu, and the at least one low call volume menu excludes an increasing credit limits option and a transferring balances option if the identifier is associated with non-bankruptcy reaffirmation accounts.


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